1. Field
The following description relates to a defrosting apparatus, a refrigerator including the same, and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a defrosting apparatus capable of improving energy efficiency by discontinuously controlling an operation of the defrosting apparatus, a refrigerator including the same, and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a refrigerator is an apparatus maintaining a storage chamber in the refrigerator at a low temperature in order to freshly store foods for a long period of time.
The refrigerator changes a state of a refrigerant flowing along an inner portion of a refrigerant pipe to allow a heat exchange of the refrigerant to be performed at the interior and the exterior of the refrigerator, thereby lowering an indoor temperature.
In detail, the refrigerator is configured to include an evaporator absorbing ambient heat while evaporating a low pressure and low temperature refrigerant, thereby performing a heat exchange with indoor air of the storage chamber.
Frost may form on an outer surface of the evaporator that is in a low temperature state due to a temperature difference between water vapor introduced from the exterior that is in a room temperature state into the refrigerator or water vapor generated by evaporation of moisture contained in foods stored in the refrigerator and the evaporator.
Because the frost formed on the surface of the evaporator decreases heat exchange efficiency which, in turn, decreases cooling efficiency of the refrigerator and increases power consumption, a defrosting apparatus for removing the frost is provided in the refrigerator.
In the case of a defrosting apparatus removing the frost of the evaporator using a heated wire according to the related art, in order to ensure that the frost of the evaporator has been completely removed, a temperature of the evaporator at a position of the evaporator that is farthest from the heat wire is sensed, and a defrosting operation is continuously performed until the temperature of the evaporator arrives at a temperature at which defrosting is completed.
In the defrosting scheme according to the related art as described above, excessive heat is applied to a portion of the evaporator positioned closely to the heated wire, and an amount of heat equal to or larger than an amount of heat required for removing the frost is used.
Therefore, the refrigerator according to the related art has an increase in power consumption caused at the time of a defrosting operation, heat remaining after the defrosting operation meets cold air within the refrigerator forms dew or frost within the refrigerator, foods go bad due to a temperature rise within the refrigerator, and an increase in a time in which a cooling apparatus is operated in order to again lower a temperature excessively rising after the defrosting operation causes an increase in power consumption and a decrease in a lifespan of the refrigerator.